Aerodraco

Aerodraco; Temporal range: Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Holotype snout in multiple views
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Pterosauria
Suborder:	†Pterodactyloidea
Clade:	†Ornithocheirae
Clade:	†Anhangueria
Family:	†Anhangueridae
Genus:	†Aerodraco; Holgado & Pêgas, 2020
Type species
	†Pterodactylus sedgwickii; Owen, 1859
Species
	†Aerodraco sedgwickii ; (Owen, 1859);
Synonyms
	Pterodactylus sedgwickii ; Owen, 1859; Ornithocheirus sedgwicki ; (Owen, 1859); Coloborhynchus sedgwickii ; (Owen, 1859); Camposipterus(?) sedgwickii ; (Owen, 1859);

Aerodraco (meaning "air dragon") is a genus of

anhanguerid pterosaur from the Albian–Cenomanian-age Cambridge Greensand of England. It contains only one species, Aerodraco sedgwickii. It was originally assigned to the genus Pterodactylus.^[1]

Discovery and naming

In 1859, Sir

Ornithosauria).^[5] In 1874, Owen again renamed it into Coloborhynchus sedgwickii.^[6] Owen in 1859 also referred a front of the lower jaws, specimen CAMSM B54421. However, this piece is not of the same individual as the holotype and there is no proof for any connection with Pterodactylus sedgwickii.^[7]

It was then largely ignored in modern literature until 2013, when Rodrigues and Kellner assigned it to their new genus Camposipterus. However, even they were unsure of this placement, calling it Camposipterus(?) sedgwickii.^[7] Finally, in 2020, Holgado and Pêgas assigned it to its own genus, Aerodraco; the genus name means "air dragon", in reference to the 1901 book Dragons of the Air by Harry Seeley.

Description

Rodrigues & Kellner established two autapomorphies of Camposipterus(?) sedgwickii. The expanded section of the front snout is suddenly constricted behind the third tooth pair. The tooth sockets of the third tooth pair are much larger than those of the fourth pair. There is a unique combination of traits: the snout is deep; the midline ridge on the palate towards the front reaches a position behind the third tooth pair, which distinguishes Aerodraco from Camposipterus.^[1]

Classification

In 2020, Holgado & Pêgas placed Aerodraco in the subfamily

phylogenetic analysis.^[1]

Anhangueridae

Tropeognathinae

	Siroccopteryx

	Tropeognathus

	Mythunga

	Ferrodraco

Coloborhynchinae

Aerodraco

Coloborhynchus

	Nicorhynchus

	Uktenadactylus

Anhanguerinae

	Caulkicephalus

	Guidraco

	Ludodactylus

Liaoningopterus

	Cearadactylus

	Maaradactylus

Anhanguera

References

^
doi:10.4202/app.00751.2020
.

^ R. Owen. 1859. Supplement (No. I) to the Monograph on the Fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous Formations. Palaeontographical Society Monographs 1–19
^ Owen, R., 1859, Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous formations. Supplement no. I. Palaeontographical Society, London, 19 pp
^ Seeley, H.G., 1869, Index to the fossil remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia, from the Secondary System of Strata arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell and Co., Cambridge, xxiii + 143 pp
^ Seeley, H.G., 1870, The Ornithosauria: an elementary study of the bones of pterodactyls, made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell, and Co., Cambridge, xii + 135 pp
^ Owen, R., 1874, Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic Formations. Palaeontographical Society, London, 14 pp
^
PMID 23794925
.

[holgado2020-1] 
doi:10.4202/app.00751.2020
.

[Owen1859-2] R. Owen. 1859. Supplement (No. I) to the Monograph on the Fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous Formations. Palaeontographical Society Monographs 1–19

[3] Owen, R., 1859, Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Cretaceous formations. Supplement no. I. Palaeontographical Society, London, 19 pp

[Seeley1869-4] Seeley, H.G., 1869, Index to the fossil remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia, from the Secondary System of Strata arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell and Co., Cambridge, xxiii + 143 pp

[Seeley1870-5] Seeley, H.G., 1870, The Ornithosauria: an elementary study of the bones of pterodactyls, made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. Deighton, Bell, and Co., Cambridge, xii + 135 pp

[6] Owen, R., 1874, Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic Formations. Palaeontographical Society, London, 14 pp

[Taissa2013-7] 
PMID 23794925
.

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[6]

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